Target cup for surface projectiles



0 United States Patent l1113,549,151

[72] Inventor Harold W. Long FOREIGN PATENTS Mwmvi" Road, Columbus, Ohio220,377 8/1924 Great Britain 273/179 43221 [21 1 APPL 812,809 PnmaryExammer-George J. Marlo [22] Filed Apt 2, 1969 Attorney-Howson andHowson [45] Patented Dec. 22, 1970 [54] TARGET CUP FOR SURFACEPROJECTILES ABSTRACT; An amusement device for use with one or more 9 CW6 Dnwing 513$ balls consisting of a target cup which IS mounted on aplaying surface. The target cup comprises an element having an [52] US.CL 273/178, inclined skirt for directing a ball into an elevatedreceptacle in 273,127 the form of a depression which is adapted toreceive the ball. [51] m A63) 57/00 In use, the ball is projected acrossthe playing surface and rolls [50] Field ofSearch 273/177, up theinclined skin at a sufficient velocity m come to rest 34, 95(4)- 105,176 within the receptacle. A variable degree of difficulty is embodiedin the device b rovidin a variable slo in the skirt [56] Rdemm CM aboutthe circumfereni: of the iup and by hayiiig means to UNITED STATESPATENTS vary the effective depth of the depression, namely a series of2,933,318 4/1960 Boynton 273/178 annular rings which are removablymounted in the receptacle 3,490,769 I] l 970 Torbett 273/178X to formits bottom wall.

PATENTED 0mm 3.649.151

INVENTORI HAROLD W. L ONG TARGET CUP FOR SURFACE PROJECTILES amusementdevice which may be adapted to provide a degree of difficultycommensurate with the skill of the players. When the target cup is usedwith a series of similar cups, the various cups in the series may bemodified individually to provide a varying degree of difficulty as theplayer plays the ball through the series of cups.

More specifically, the present invention provides a target cup ofgenerally dome-shaped configuration having at the top of the dome areceptacle in the form of a depression formed bya series of annularmembers having a slope opposite to the slope of the body of the cup.

The present invention also insures against inadvertent disassembly ofthe annular members forming the receptacle by providing an interlockbetween the members which thereby enables the assembled cup to behandled and stored without fear of disassembly and lom of the elementswhich are assembled to form the cup.

The particular form of the cup enables it to be stacked with similarcups so as to occupy a minimum of space when not in use.

All of the objects of the invention are more fully set forth hereinafterwith reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a game cup embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation of the cup shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary inverted plan view illustrating theinterlocking between the annular elements of the FIG. 4 is a greatlyenlarged sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1 showingschematically the use of the cup with balls of varying size;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the cup with its centralannulus removed, illustrating the reception of a ball therein; and

FIG. 6 is a detached perspective view of an element of the cup shown inFIGS; 1 through 4.

Referring now to the drawing, the illustrated embodiment of the cup ofthe present invention is designed to be mounted on a playing surface 10and comprises a generally dome-shaped body portion 11 which is generallyegg-shaped in outline, having a rim providing a circular aperture 12disposed within the central area of the body portion. The body portionhas a continuous thin wall section which slopes upwardly from its outerperiphery to the central aperture or rim 12 to provide a continuousskirt surrounding the aperture. As shown in FIG. 2, the slope of theskirt 14 is relatively gradual at the large end of the egg-shapedoutline of the body portion and is relatively steep at the narrower endof the body portion, in the present instance the slope varyingcontinuously about the periphery of the body portion. Annular members 15are mounted in the aperture 12 to provide a receptacle, in the presentcase a shallow depression depending downwardly'into the interior of thedome formed by the skirt 14. In the present instance, the annularmembers 15 have circular inner and outer peripheries so as to form aseries of concentric rings within the aperture 12. The upwardly-facingsurfaces 16 of the members 15 are inclined oppositely to the skirt 14 soas to form a dished bottom for the depression within the aperture 12,each surface defining a zone of the bottom wall. In the presentinstance, there are 4 annular members 15, designated 15-1, 15-2, 15-3and 15-4 which are-releasably interlocked as shown in FIG. 4

to form a four-zoned bottom wall for the depression having a centralpassageway 17 therein. The passageway is effective to drain thereceptacle when the target cup is used out-of-doors and is exposed tothe weather.

When the cup is assembled as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, the

target cup of the present invention may be used with balls of widelyvarying diameter, as indicated by the broken lines in FIG. 4. The bodyportion 11 is adapted to rest on the playing surface 10 (FIG. 2) and theplayer projects the ball with a ma!- let or club, or manually so that itrolls along the playing surface 10 and up the skirt 14 to rest in thereceptacle within the aperture 12. The ball must be impelled toward thetarget cup 1 1 with sufficient force to enable it to roll up the surfaceof the skirt 14, and yet must not have sufficient momentum to roll overthe aperture 12 without entering the depression. Furthermore, thepropulsion applied to the ball must not be sufficient to carry the ballout of the dished depression after it enters over the lip surroundingthe aperture 12. It is apparent that if a ball of large diameter isused, the propulsion of the ball must be accurately controlled to enablethe ball to stop within the receptacle of the target cup. By the sametoken, as the diameter of the ball decreases, the player has more leewayin propelling the ball up the skirt 14 and into the depression, sincethe smaller diameter of the ball will produce a lesser tendency for theball to continue rolling out of the depression. In addition to thediameter of the ball, the resiliency of the material composing the ball,and the weight of the ball contribute to the degree of difficulty in.causing the ball to come to rest within the receptacle of the targetcup. A hard heavy ball obviously will act quite differently from abouncy light ball. It is contemplated that the standard ball will be inthe nature of a standard tennis ball. However, the players, by properselection of balls, may accommodate the game to the particular skills ofthe players. For example, when an adult is playing the game with a youngchild, the difference in skill and coordination between the adult andthe child may be compensated for by the players use of different balls.In this way, the interest in the game may be enhanced by accommodatingthe difficulty of play with the skill and coordination of the player.

The variable slope of the skirt 14 also contributes to the interest inplaying the game. The steeper slope at the small end of the cup createsa greater difficulty in getting the ball to come to rest within thedepression and requires the player to exercise sound judgment inselecting the best approach to the cup. This requirement for exercise ofjudgment further enhances the interest in the game.

It is contemplated that the game will be played with a series of targetcups and that each player must propel his ball into the targetreceptacle of all of the cups in the series in a particular sequence.The present invention provides means for increasing the degree ofdifficulty as the player progresses through the series of cups. Aspointed out above, the dished bottom 16 of the target depression isformed by the series of annular elements 15 and these elements areselectively removable. When assembled as shown in FIG. 4, the centralpassageway 17 formed by the inner periphery of the central annularmember 15-4 provides substantially no impedance to the rolling of theball through the depression. When the central annular member 154 isremoved as shown in FIG. 5, however, the inner periphery of theremaining annular member 15-3 provides an enlarged passageway 17-3 inwhich the ball may have a tendency to nest. Thus, if in its passage intothe receptacle, the ball engages in the passageway 17-3, the passagewaywill tend to impede its progress and assist in retaining the ball withinthe receptacle. In similar manner, if the next annular member 15-3 isremoved, a further enlarged passageway will be provided by the innerperiphery of the next member 15-2, and so forth. When the diameter ofthe passageway exceeds that of the ball being used by a particularplayer, it will be relatively easy to cause the ball to come to restwithin the receptacle target cup, since the ball will be free to fallthrough the passageway into the hollow interior of the skirt 14. Whenall of the annular members 15 are removed,

